True crime has been an interest of mine for as long as I can remember. When I was around 10 years old, I was so hooked on becoming a private investigator, but what eventually put me off was that I thought murders just don't happen in Malta - or at least they happen once in a blue moon. Of course, I know now that while Malta's crime rate (specifically when it comes to intentional homicides) is significantly low compared to other countries, some people still unfortunately meet a horrific end at the hands of a fellow human. What's a little bit worrying is the fact that the number of cold-blooded murders on the Maltese islands which actually end up being solved isn't extremely high - about 1/3 of cases remain unsolved. And as I went down the Internet rabbit hole, I found myself horrified that some of the murders had actually happened on this seemingly wholesome archipelago...
1. Louis Galea (aka ‘Gigi ir-Rizzu’)
42-year-old Louis Galea, better known by his fellow Gozitans as ‘Gigi ir-Rizzu’, went missing sometime in November of 1996. After about two months of searches, he was eventually found in a well near Wied l-Għasri on the 9th of January 1997. 2 bullet wounds were discovered at the back of his head, and they indicated that he had been shot from close behind. Initial investigations took the police to the Café Ritz – a café owned by the victim’s brother, Franco Galea. The police noted that the wall had just been whitewashed, and a cartridge which matched the murder weapon was found in a vacuum cleaner on the property. Nevertheless, the case has so far never been solved.
2. Mike Mansholt
This next case is horrific not really because of what happened to the victim, but because of the inconsistencies and unanswered questions regarding it. On the 18th of July 2016, 17-year-old Mike Mansholt died whilst on holiday in Malta. When the teenager didn’t go back to his hometown in Germany when planned, his parents filed a missing person’s report. The police in Malta traced back his final movements, and discovered that he had borrowed a mountain-bike in order to explore catacombs in Rabat. His body was eventually found at Dingli Cliffs, but his cause of death still seems suspicious to this day. His death is officially ruled as an accident; it would seem believable that he just tumbled down the steep cliffs with his bike, right? But a missing GoPro and an organless body returning to Germany might cause any parent to suspect foul play.
3. Paul Grech
Most Maltese murders seem to involve middle-aged male victims, and this one is no different. In October of 2013, Paul Grech was missing for a week before his body was found wedged into a crevice in a rocky wall. His body was found after a stench of decomposition led police from the scene of his abandoned car in Mellieħa. Grech’s body was covered with black garbage bags filled with pieces of polystyrene, and it was announced that he had died of a stab in the heart. Ensuing investigations shed light on a sketchy Russian business partner, as a grey file full of contracts of land purchases in Russia was discovered to be missing. Not enough proof has ever been gathered in order to convict someone of Grech’s murder, however.
4. Lino Cauchi
This penultimate case is one which shook me to my core the first time I had read about it. The Mafia-style assassination and mutilation of 32-year-old Lino Cauchi is something I never imagined could have happened on our small (albeit highly congested) island. The young accountant went missing on the 25th of February 1982, but it wasn’t until 1985 that a lifeless body was found. The victim had been killed by a violent blow with a mallet before being dismembered with the use of both a manual and an electric saw. Each and every piece was then placed into plastic bags, which were then dumped in a well in Buskett. Because of the horrifying mutilation the body had undergone, it was only identified to be Cauchi’s in 1988. The reason behind his death could be related to his knowledge of corrupt dealings; the day after his disappearance, Cauchi’s wife was visited by someone from the Inland Revenue Department, who asked for sensitive files to be handed over.
5. Gaetano Romano
Last but not least is the murder of Gaetano Romano – this seems more like a plot from one of the Saw movies than a real-life homicide. The 20-year-old was killed in 2009; the unknown killer hammered half-a-dozen nails into his skull before shoving him into his own furnace, where the victim’s father found him days later. It was later discovered that Romano had written a letter to his father in which he had aired out his concerns that someone was out to harm him. Nevertheless, investigators have never managed to get to the bottom of the case, but could the killing of the Romano family dog mere months before have been a foreshadowing of what was to come?
Of course, there are a lot more cases where that came from that are still waiting to be solved. I tried to stray away from the more notorious cases, and so I focused on some that don't really get the attention they need in order to maybe one day get solved. My heart goes out to each victim's family and friends, who deserve answers to the biggest question of all: who did it?
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